Static Racking Behavior of Plywood, OSB, Gypsum, and FiberBond Walls with Metal Framing

Recent results from full-scale static racking tests and small-scale lateral shear tests on plywood, oriented strand board (OSB), gypsum wallboard (GWB), and FiberBond wallboard (FB) attached to light gauge steel studs are presented and discussed in this paper. The objectives of the tests were to investigate the performance of sheathed light gauge steel framed shear walls and determine whether simple static lateral shear values for the panel connection can provide a useful correlation with full-scale test values. The full-scale tests were conducted in accordance with the basic test criteria defined in ASTM E 72-80. A procedure similar to that described in ASTM D 1761-88 was used for the small-scale tests. Panels used in the tests included 11.9 mm APA rated four-ply plywood sheathing, 11.1 mm APA rated OSB sheathing, 12.7 mm gypsum wallboard (ASTM C 36), and 12.7 mm FiberBond wallboard. Results obtained from tests showed that failure of the walls resulted from rotation (tilting) of the fasteners about the plane of the stud flange followed by either the head of the screw pulling through the panel or the screw breaking the edge of the panel. In the small-scale tests, failure resulted from the fastener breaking the edge of the panel. Normalized lateral shear connection resistances were found to be relatively close to the corresponding normalized racking shear values for the full-scale test. Thus, it appears that small-scale connection tests may be used as a good predictor of the behavior of full-scale walls.